Negotiations between WGBH and the public broadcaster’s largest union have begun as their contract ends at the end of October. The Boston Globe reports WGBH, which owns news/talk WGBH-FM (89.7) & classical WCRB-FM (99.5), is seeking concessions that include “cutting the company’s match for employee retirement plans in half, redefining job descriptions, and moving to a performance-based pay raise system.” Currently, the 300-member Association of Employees of the Educational Foundation, Local 1300 workers receive an eight percent retirement match. WGBH wants to reduce that in half to four percent, comparable to what other employees receive. They also want to substitute merit pay raises for annual increases. Due to a drop in donations and endowments, WGBH last year was forced to freeze wages and cut jobs after the value of their endowments fell from $50 million to $28 million. The union declined to respond to the Boston Globe story.